|
|
|
United States Air Force C-141
StarLifters were fairly common visitors to Australia during their forty
years of service (1965-2006). However, there was one StarLifter visitor
which deserves special mention. This was the sole civil L-300-50A (MSN
300-6110) N4141A which visited Australia as the Lockheed company demonstrator
in August 1966. The aircraft remained in Sydney for several days awaiting
parts for a damaged undercarriage. There were no civil orders forthcoming
so in 1974, the aircraft was delivered to NASA's Ames Research Center
who operated it as N714NA out of Moffett Field, California. Fitted with
a 91cm telescope, it was dedicated as the Gerard P. Kuiper Airborne Observatory
(KAO) on 21 May 1975. The telescope was used for infrared astronomy at
altitudes up to 45,000 feet. The aircraft was retired in 1995 and replaced
by the SOFIA Boeing 747SP. Although withdrawn from service, the StarLifter
was still intact at Moffett Field as recently as 2011.
Given that this schedule was issued on the day of the first arrival, its contents should be reasonably accurate. However, it must be noted that Essendon Newsletter of October 1966 records two additional StarLifters 65-0233 and 64-0629. This is supported by the Journal of the Aviation Historical Society of Australia (Vol. VII No. 5 of September-October 1966) which states that six (6) StarLifters visited but it does not record serial numbers.
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
|
On 15 March 1966, Lockheed
C-141A StarLifter 64-0628 (MSN 300-6041) visited RAAF Base Fairbairn (Canberra)
with 39 members of the U.S. National War College on a South-East Asia
tour. A Tiger Moth has been posed with the StarLifter for this RAAF publicity
photograph. This may have been one of the earliest StarLifter visits to
Australia.
 Picture: RAAF |
 |
|
Lockheed C-141A StarLifter
65-0223 (MSN 300-6074) at Essendon in October 1966 while supporting the
visit by U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson.
Picture:
CAHS - Barry MacLean |
 |
|
Lockheed C-141A
StarLifter 65-0263 (MSN 300-6115) at Essendon where it arrived on 20 December
1967 before ferrying to Tullamarine the following day. The aircraft was
supporting the visit by U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson for the funeral
of Australian Prime Minister, Harold Holt, which was held in Melbourne
on 22 December. C-141A 65-0263 was accompanied by C-141A 67-0008 (MSN
300-6259) each carrying a Presidential automobile. Air Force One
on this occasion was Boeing VC-137A 58-6970. The aircraft in the foreground
of this photograph is Boeing VC-137B 62-4125. The number of visiting aircraft
overwhelmed the tarmac at Essendon so several aircraft were ferried to
Melbourne's new airport at Tullamarine which did not open until 1 July
1970. (Source: Essendon Newsletter No 19 by Gordon Reid)
Picture:
CAHS |
 |
| Lockheed
C-141A StarLifter 65-0233 (MSN 300-6084) heads a row of three StarLifters
at Canberra on 21 October 1966 while supporting the visit by U.S. President
Lyndon B. Johnson. Picture: Arthur Lindeman |
 |
| Lockheed
C-141A StarLifter 64-0628 (MSN 300-6041) at Canberra on 21 October 1966
while supporting the visit by U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson. Note that
the aircraft has acquired a red kangaroo zap on the nose.Picture:
Arthur Lindeman |
 |
|
L-300-50A StarLifter
N4141A (MSN 300-6110) at Mascot, Sydney on 27 August 1966.
Picture: Eric Allen |
 |
|
L-300-50A
StarLifter N4141A (MSN 300-6110) at Mascot, Sydney on 27 August 1966.
Picture: Eric Allen |
 |
|
L-300-50A
StarLifter N4141A (MSN 300-6110) at Mascot, Sydney on 27 August 1966.
Picture: Eric Allen |
 |
|
L-300-50A
StarLifter N4141A (MSN 300-6110) at Mascot, Sydney on 27 August 1966.
Picture: Eric Allen |
 |
|
L-300-50A
StarLifter N4141A (MSN 300-6110) at Mascot, Sydney on 27 August 1966.
Picture: Eric Allen |
 |
|
NASA's N714NA (MSN
300-6110) at Melbourne, Tullamarine in March 1977.
Picture: Mike Madden (M158) |
 |
|
N714NA
(MSN 300-6110) with revised NASA markings at Melbourne, Tullamarine in
July 1994. The aircraft flew several sorties to observe the intersection
of comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 with the atmosphere of Jupiter.
Picture: Peter Gates Collection (AH011) |
 |
|
C-141A
66-0134 (MSN 300-6160) at Cocos Island in October 1968 in
support of the Apollo 7 mission.
Picture:
CAHS - Colin Hayes |
 |
|
C-141A
63-8089 (MSN 300-6020) at Cocos Island in
October 1968 in support of the Apollo 7
mission.
Picture: CAHS - Colin Hayes |
 |
|
C-141A
66-7949 (MSN 300-6941) at RAAF Richmond on 21 September 1970.
Picture: Nigel Daw |
 |
|
C-141A
66-0181 (MSN 300-6207) at RAAF Richmond on 26 September 1977.
Picture: Nigel Daw |
 |
|
C-141A
65-0277 (MSN 300-6129) at Brisbane on 27 February 1978.
Picture: Ron Cuskelly (M375) |
 |
|
C-141A
65-0277 (MSN 300-6129) at Brisbane on 28 February 1978.
Picture: Ron Cuskelly (M395) |
 |
|
The
cockpit of C-141A 65-0233 (MSN 300-6084) at Brisbane on 27 February 1978.
Picture: Ron Cuskelly (M344) |
 |
|
C-141A
67-0009 (MSN 300-6260) at Sydney in May 1970.
The aircraft was broken up at AMARG in August 2003.
Picture:
Eric Allen |
 |
| C-141A
67-0009 (MSN 300-6260) departing Sydney in June 1970.
The aircraft
was broken up at AMARG in August 2003. Picture:
Eric Allen |
 |
|
C-141B
65-9399 (MSN 300-6136) at Brisbane on 5 October 1983.
Picture: Ron Cuskelly (X073) |
 |
|
C-141B
66-0180 (MSN 300-6026) at Brisbane on 18 October 1987.
The aircraft was supporting the Thunderbirds during their Far East tour.
Note the Thunderbirds emblems on the tail and aft of the crew door. At
the time, the StarLifter was using the callsign Thunderbird 14.
C-141B 66-0150 also supported the team as Thunderbird 24. The Thunderbirds
and their support aircraft operated out of the new Brisbane Airport which
did not open officially until March 1988.
Picture:
Ron Cuskelly (AC366) |
 |
|
C-141B
66-0161 (MSN 300-6187) at Brisbane on 23 June 1988.
The aircraft is wearing the European 1 camouflage scheme which was more
commonly known as the Lizard scheme.
Picture: David Sparks (AD379) |
 |
|
C-141B
66-0185 (MSN 300-6211) of the Mississippi Air National Guard wearing the
so-called Equipment Excellence Gray scheme at Brisbane on 14 March 1995.
The overall grey scheme was also known as Air Mobility Command Proud Gray.
This aircraft was one of 63 C-141Bs that were later upgraded to C-141C
with a new wing box and glass cockpit amongst other mods.
Picture:
Ron Cuskelly (AH086) |
|
Issue
|
Date
|
Remarks |
|
9
|
11AUG22
|
Added two images of 67-0009 thanks to Eric Allen. |
|
8
|
30AUG20
|
Added images of 65-0233 and 64-0628 thanks to Peter Lindeman. |
|
7
|
01APR20
|
Added images of 63-8089 and 65-0223 thanks to Phil Vabre of the CAHS. |
|
6
|
31MAR20
|
Added
images of 66-0181 and 66-7949 thanks to Nigel Daw. Added an image of 66-0134 thanks to CAHS - Colin Hayes. |
|
5
|
28MAR20
|
Added a schedule of the C-141 StarLifters that supported the 1966 Australian visit by POTUS. |
|
4
|
25MAR20
|
Expanded the caption for the photo of 65-0263. |
|
3
|
22MAR20
|
Added six new images (see last 6 rows). |
|
2
|
20MAR20
|
Added images of 64-0628 and 65-0263. |
|
1
|
25JUL19
|
Original issue. |
|
Return to the Lockheed File |
 |